Executive director's note: ‘Jack of all trades: Master of all’
By:
Vernon M. Billy
Winter 2012
Governance is central to the mission of the California School Boards Association. Advancing effective governance is at the core of all we do for our members. After all, CSBA is the only education association organized in the state to represent all school board members and provide them with the governance training and policy guidance necessary to oversee our schools. Our internal mantra is: Governance First.
With a focus on Governance First, school boards create the right conditions for student success—positive outcomes follow. School governance today is highly complex. The job function might look the same as it did a decade ago—elected and/or appointed members of the community who come together as board members on a routine basis to make local policy decisions—yet school governance has never been more challenging or demanding. To govern schools effectively, board members must be quick studies on a wide range of policy topics from school finance, curriculum, standards, testing, school facilities and construction to safety, contracts, collective bargaining, the Brown Act, personnel and more.
You’ve all heard the old adage, “jack of all trades, master of none.” For an outsider looking in and to those who don’t really understand the nuts and bolts of school governance, this might seem like a fitting label. It certainly is one of the claims made by the CSSI (shorthand for the California Schools Suck Industry—a term I’m told was coined by John Mockler, an old friend and Proposition 98 expert, to describe the special interest groups actively working to discredit public education and give school boards a bad name). The CSSI sees boards as rubber stamps—antiquated, ineffective institutions that stymie reform in schools. Unfortunately, CSSI’s perspective isn’t limited to a handful of people. It is held by more individuals than we prefer. This perspective is often shaped due to misinformation or due to a single disappointing act of an individual member of a governance team. It’s the latter that ultimately weakens local governance.
Board members can help dispel the CSSI myth by taking the time to explain the context of their policy decision making. Good governance today requires transparency and, I would assert, public relations. The public, especially the 70 percent who do not have a direct connection to public education with children in school, do not understand the complexity of policy making. The public may not understand that an action, such as postponing a decision on an issue or actually demonstrating leadership and courage by changing a previous policy decision, demonstrates a commitment to good governance. The depth and detail of the policy issues you address at each meeting require study and deliberation. After all, it is the future of our nation’s most valuable asset—our students—that is at stake if a policy hasn’t been carefully considered and implemented with the best intent.
Given the complexities of today’s governance decisions, I submit that there is a different label that is more fitting for effective governance teams—“jack of all trades, master of all.” I challenge you to embrace the concept of becoming a policy “jack of All Trades.” The best governance team members dive head first into policy issues with an open mind and with the intent of learning as much as possible to be informed and capable policy decision-makers. “Jack of all trades” implies adaptability, flexibility and courage.
In this issue of California Schools, you’ll read an interview with President-elect Cindy Marks. In one of her responses, Cindy references the need for board members to be fearless. Board members should have no fear or reservation in addressing the tough and controversial policy areas on behalf of students. Being a great board member requires a commitment to being a policy “jack of all trades.”
My staff and I are here to support you in your education, training and understanding of policy issues so that you can be the “master of all” in education policy. Our goal is to provide you with the information, tools and resources you need to be well informed and to have the context for good policy decision making. In “School Board Case Studies,” issued by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Institute for a Competitive Workforce and the National Chamber Foundation, the report affirmed that school boards critically shape the quality of public education. The report stated, “The success of high-profile state and federal education initiatives, such as improving teacher evaluation systems, turning around low-performing schools, or implementing the new Common Core State Standards, ultimately depends on the decisions and actions of the more than 13,000 local government entities.” This study, while qualitative and limited in scope, is consistent with the Iowa Lighthouse Inquiry, a multistate research project. Your ability to accomplish these objectives is directly related to your ability to be a competent policy “master of all.”
You will be well on your way to becoming a policy expert through your active involvement in CSBA. CSBA’s staff combs the industry’s leading journals, evaluates the latest studies and reports, researches best practices, and packages this information in a way that you can put to immediate use. Our programs and services are designed to help advance your mastery of key issues. Our weekly membership email updates, monthly newsletter, California Schools magazine, policy briefs, webcasts, webinars, policy newsletters, legislative action alerts and even our newly upgraded website, to be unveiled at the Annual Education Conference and Trade Show, are designed to equip you with the information you need to be a “master of all.”
CSBA stands ready to do all that we can to prepare you for the year ahead by supporting you in your invaluable role as a local policy leader. If we commit together to putting good “Governance First,” I am confident that every board member in the state will become a policy “jack of all trades: master of all.”